There are so many truly wonderful aspects to Cornwall’s identity and culture, and I personally consider that the most important factor in our distinctiveness to be the Cornish language. This is because, to me, the continued existence of our own Celtic language, emphasises that we have a national identity, rather than simply a regional or county character.

Over the years, a large number of people have worked so incredibly hard
to promote and celebrate Cornish – teaching students, producing books
and magazines, using the language in music and the arts, and raising its
public profile. So much of this work has been undertaken by dedicated
volunteers, and I believe we owe them a great debt.

Significant
progress has been made in recent decades and, in November 2002, the
status of the language was recognised through the European Charter for
Regional and Minority Languages. This international agreement committed
the UK Government to a range of measures to protect and develop the
language and, in 2014, this was followed by the recognition of the
Cornish through the Framework Convention for National Minorities.

But sadly, central government has failed to meet its obligations and, in 2016, it shamefully ended its funding of Cornish.

Unsurprisingly
and quite rightly, in 2017, an opinion from a Committee of the Council
of Europe was extremely critical of the UK Government’s failings and
challenged it to act on the “linguistic and cultural rights” of the
Cornish, and to rethink “the decision to cut all funding for the Cornish
language in view of the disproportionate impact such a measure will
have on the delicate process of revitalising a minority language when
access to other public financial resources is limited.”

There
were also other recommendations in the opinion, which included calls for
a Cornish Language Act and for the BBC to show support for the
language.

Action from the relevant authorities has not been
forthcoming and it has been reported that Lloyds Bank is now refusing to
accept cheques written in Cornish. I find I unbelievable that Lloyds
have issued a statement saying that “it cannot take cheques in languages
employees do not understand.” Really? How difficult can it be to
understand “peswardhek peuns” when it is written next to “£14.00”?

Lloyds
Bank accepts cheques in other Celtic languages, such as Scots Gaelic
and Welsh, which further emphasises the ridiculousness of their approach
to Cornish.

On a more positive note, a new online Cornish
language resource has been launched by Golden Tree Productions, in
co-operation with Cornwall Council. To find out more and identify your
local class, log onto GoCornish.org.

Please note: the image of
the cheque has been supplied by Ray Chubb from Agan Tavas, who is
leading the campaign to raise awareness of the position of Lloyds.

There are so many truly wonderful aspects to Cornwall’s identity and culture, and I personally consider that the most important factor in our distinctiveness to be the Cornish language. This is because, to me, the continued existence of our own Celtic language, emphasises that we have a national identity, rather than simply a regional or county character.

Cornwall Council recently published an impact assessment on the so-called “devolution deal,” that was agreed between it and the UK Government in 2015. The document sets out what has happened over the last three years or so.